In-store coffee shops becoming big business in Melbourne
The once humble mum and dad coffee shop has become big business in Melbourne.
Figures from online local restaurant review website Urbanspoon showed there are 2,574 cafés alone in metropolitan Melbourne, the Weekly Review Melbourne Times (WRMT) reported.
With a population of just over 4 million, that equates to one cafe per about 1,600 people.
Driving this rapid spread of cafes has been the shift away from the traditional cafe shop model to a "coffee-business" hybrid.
Across Melbourne, hairdressers, car dealerships, record shops, laundromats, art galleries and even a church now either sell barista-made coffee or offer it gratis to customers, WRMT reported.
An example of that is the Soap Bar Launderett in Carlton’s Elgin Street. The owners are installing a new in-store café in the hope it will ease customers’ boredom as they wait for their washing and bring in a few extra dollars.
Knight Frank research director Richard Jenkins told the publication that he expected more businesses were likely to add a coffee machine to their business in order to diversify how they made a buck. “A lot of owners are interested in trying to offer more experiences to their customers and I think that’s what they’re doing by offering a convenience that could translate into more sales,” he said, "Retail sales are slowing down but people are still going out. It’s a cheap luxury and will attract shoppers. It’s a really clever idea.”
